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Readers' column
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| Stances | |
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| By Yassine HICHAM , 11-06-2006 |
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| May Allah bless our master Muhammad and bless his family and his Companions and all the people of his religion, may Allah forgive them all and cover them with His mercy by the rank of the interceding Prophet! |
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| Praise be to Allah who has removed the darkness of ignorance from His awliya' by the lights of gnosis and has given them knowledge of the correct criteria in the arena of the true and the false. I testify that there is no god but Allah, the King, the Eternal, and I testify that our lord and master Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, sent with the best of all religions. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, lifted the darkness of all ignorance and removed all doubts. He made the path clear for the travellers and gave the most eloquent indications and proofs. May Allah bless him and grant him peace and bless all his family and Companions. |
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| Here I intend but to summarize some of the notes and notions which I have come across or picked up from different books and websites.We ask Allah to make the way easy and give success. He is the One who brings the answer. |
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| 1. bAhmad Zarruq said in the 'Umda al-Murid as-Sadiq, "One instance of using a thing in the wrong way is when people use their knowledge to examine others, but do not use it to judge themselves. What you find is that when one of these people hears about a harmful matter into which ordinary scholars, fuqara' and others have fallen, he says, 'This is the state of people today. This is the way they act.' But he does not look at the same thing in himself. He is blind to his own faults, but sees the faults of his brother. That comes from him having a good opinion of himself and considering himself blameless. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, indicated this state when he said, 'There are those among you who see the speck in their brother's eye and do not see the tree trunk in their own eye.' (Hadith)" |
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| 2 . Things are judged according to what is intended by them. The only thing that stops a scholar from acting by his knowledge is the fact that he learns it for the sake of other people. The only thing that will give them true fame is learning it for their own betterment. Anyone who learns knowledge for his own betterment is guided and given insight. Anyone who learns knowledge for the sake of someone else rarely benefits by it. If someone seeks this world by actions pertaining to the Next World, the punishment of his knowledge is the death of his heart, as traditions have indicated. So Do not learn it for the sake of gain thereby making it an argument against yourselves rather than an argument for yourselves and against other people. |
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| 3. Judgements differ in different times. Every age produces new situations and creates specific requirements. It is therefore necessary to re-examine matters so that they do not fall outside the dictates of the Shari'a. The men of knowledge say that every time requires its own judgements inasmuch as the things which are considered permissible can be either recommended, forbidden, or disliked. Something that is recommended or permitted at one time can become forbidden and disliked at another. This comes about because in each case the new judgement is arrived at by using other evidence that requires that judgement. |
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| 4. The demands made on a person should be according to his rank and he should be addressed according to his background. A common man is not expected to have more than taqwa. A faqih is not expected to be anything other than correct. The murid is expected to have sincerity as well as the first two qualities. The gnostic is expected to have scrupulousness. A common man without taqwa is corrupt. A faqih without correctness is incompetent. A murid without truthfulness is a fraud who is amusing himself. (This is one of the principles in al-Qawa'id by Zarruq.) The imperfection of the age, the imperfection of the people and the blameworthiness of the rulers, qadis, and false pretenders to piety does not mean that there has to be general corruption. Among the community of Musa there was a group who were guided by the truth and judged by it. |
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| 5. Words are of two pathways: either heal or kill. |
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| 6 .'As for the blessing of your Lord, speak out!' (96:11). For this reason, in his book, Nuzul ar-Rahma fi't-tahaduuthi bi'n-ni'ma, as-Suyuti says, "Scholars, may Allah be pleased with them, find it proper for a man to praise himself by mentioning his own good qualities in certain situations. This is an exception to the general rule, which is that man should be harsh on himself and not praise himself. Among the things that show this is that speaking about Allah's blessing is obeying the words of Allah. |
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| 7. Matters in this world are sometimes praiseworthy and sometimes blameworthy according to the circumstances. That is why the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated that this world was blameworthy when he said, "This world is cursed and everything in it is cursed." But he made it praiseworthy when he said, "It is an excellent mount for the believers." Allah Almighty praises people who seek leadership in this world by their saying in the Qur’an, "Make us imams for those who are fearfully aware." (25:74) Ibn 'Umar used to say, "Oh Allah, make me an Imam for those who are fearfully aware." |
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| 8. There is a famous saying by the sublime and noble man, imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him,in which he said, "The reward of those who are fearfully aware is immense, so what about the reward of their Imam?" The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I ask You for mercy by which I will obtain the honour of Your favour in this world and the Next." A man said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Show me something I can do which will make Allah love me and will make people love me." He said, "Make do with little of this world and Allah will love you. Make do with little of what other people possess and they will love you." (Hadith) The prophet Yusuf, peace be upon him, said, "Put me in charge of the storehouses of the earth. I am a knowing guardian." (12:55) |
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| Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers, and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. |
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